Spain seeks EU help on migrants

[Kutjara]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4993004.stm

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Spain has asked the European Union for more help to deal with a renewed wave of illegal immigrants travelling by sea from West Africa. More than 1,500 illegal immigrants have arrived on the Canary Islands in the past week. Spain has stepped up air and sea patrols and is consulting with African countries in a bid to curb the influx. Many migrants who risk the trip to the Canary Islands see them as a stepping- stone to a better life in Europe.

Jean-Philippe Chauzy, of the International Organisation for Migration, said countries like Spain were attractive to immigrants because it was easy to get a job there without going through official channels.

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[Minnesota Libra]

1. So Spain is actively tackling their illegal alien problem but of..........

.....course we're not supposed to. We're just supposed to leave our borders wide open for whoever. I wonder how many demonstrations there will be in the streets of the Canary Islands by illegal aliens.

[Kutjara]

2. I don't think Spain's solution is anything we should emulate.

Their official response up to now has been largely to ignore the problem, hoping it would be temporary. As living conditions in many parts of Africa have deteriorated because of famine and war, however, many Africans are understandably eager to move somewhere more conductive to life.

Added to this is that Spain's agriculture industry relies on migrant labor from Africa during harvesting season. The migrant workers are paid little and their working conditions are extremely poor. They are also subjected to beatings, intimidation, rape and murder. These crimes are rarely reported or, if they are, investigated. Still, a harsh life in Spain is preferable to an even worse one in Africa for many.

The immigration problem isn't going to go away just because the EU decides to tighten its borders a bit. When you're fleeing certain death, a fence doesn't present much of an obstacle.